


The Children of the Stars

by Mooselk



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, First Meetings, Gen, Obscure Tolkien, The Silmarillion References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 13:39:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7107160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mooselk/pseuds/Mooselk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Four children meet a shining stranger by the lake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Children of the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> This is the most self-indulgent crossover ever.

_He sees them in color and knows that it is a dream. Their friendship is much older than bright Anar that shines in the sky; their parting occurred in the darkness. When he saw them last, even to elven eyes they were monochromatic figures. But here, they shine. Guen is dazzling against the sky: his hair reflects the light and gleams silver, as do his bared teeth. Shuten appears by his side, wrapped in a warm shawl and the heavily embroidered clothing of his people. The wind angrily swirls around him as if trying to lift him off the ground and rakes its fingers through the green strands of his hair. It tugs the hood of Abi’s grey cloak off of her head and she glares at Shuten as if it is his fault. In this odd light, the tattoos on her pale cheeks stand out more than ever, until it seems she is weeping tears of blood. He reaches out to touch her cheek but she flinches away from him, eyes fixed in horror at a point above his left shoulder. He spins around to look but there is nothing there. When he turns back to his friends, Abi is gone. The red of her blood tears stains Guen’s white tunic and he stumbles, breathing harshly. It runs down Shuten’s fingers and though he wipes them furiously on his cloak, the red still spreads until they are all drowning in it. He starts to scream as the red closes over Shuten’s head, but it fills his mouth and muffles his shouts. There is laughter ringing in his ears, sweet and so familiar and he wants to cry at the comfort it brings him—why have you left me why——_

_Zeno awakens with a gasp and promptly falls out of the tree he had spent the night in._

 

* * *

 

 

Untold Years before…

 

   There’s a stranger in their special place by the lake. He’s tall, taller than the tallest of Zeno’s parents and his hair is strange. It shimmers pinkish-red in the starlight, a color that Zeno has never seen before. In fact, the stranger’s whole body seems to glow. He has been warned by the elders of his tribe to stay away from all strange figures, Zeno thinks, but this person cannot be one of the servants of darkness, can he? He shines too brightly and all the shadows disappear around him. And the stranger is in their special place and Zeno can’t just leave: he promised Guen, Shuten, and Abi that he would meet them here after the third turn of the stars.

   He crouches behind a bush and peeks through its leaves at the person, who has not made a single move since Zeno got here. Now that he thinks about it, the clothing the stranger wears is unlike any Zeno has seen before. His feet are bare and the fabric is thin and drapes across the stranger’s thin shoulders. He isn’t wearing any furs and seems none the worse for it, while Zeno is shivering in the fur-lined cloak he wrapped around himself for this venture. It’s cold away from the fires and Zeno only leaves the warm tribe grounds for very important reasons. But the stranger is not bothered by the cold. His long neck is uncovered by any kind of scarf. He is not wearing any kind of earmuffs either.

   Just then, the stranger slowly turns his head and directly locks eyes with him. For a moment, Zeno is dazzled by a burning violet gaze, but the moment passes and he flings himself flat onto the ground and begins to crawl away, his heart pounding quickly in his chest.

   “Wait!” he hears behind him, in a voice as clear as a bell. “Please do not be frightened, I mean you no harm!”

    Zeno risks a glance over his shoulder to see the stranger sink onto his knees and spread his arms wide, palms up.

   “I am not your enemy. I just wanted to talk to you.”

   He seems smaller than when he is standing, and the expression on his face is so earnest that something inside Zeno calms. He climbs to his feet and tentatively makes his way back towards the stranger. With every step he takes, it gets warmer. He stops ten paces away from the person and releases the clasp of his cloak. It is as warm as any fire now, but Zeno knows that getting too close to a fire will burn your fingers.

   “Why are you shining? Are you a star?” he blurts suddenly, before covering his mouth with his hands. He wasn’t going to talk to this odd person, he was just going to get a closer look!

   The stranger laughs, and Zeno’s heart soars at the sound.

   “I have some of the Flame Imperishable within me. But I assure you, I am as solid as you.” He offers his hand, holding it passively, palm open. In the back of his mind, Zeno is reminded of his parent calming a frightened animal, but he is too drawn to the shining stranger to care. His fingers brush the stranger’s palm and then he is roughly jerked backward by the back of his tunic and tumbles to the ground.

   Looking up he meets Abi’s worried eyes.

   “What are you doing?” She hisses. “We musn’t speak to strangers, you know this! Do you want to be taken by the darkness?”

   Sitting up, Zeno notices Guen has appeared between him and the stranger. The older boy’s shoulders are set and he is clenching a stick in his hands. Zeno can see his fingers trembling, but his stance does not waver. A stone whizzes past the stranger’s left ear and Shuten comes flying out of the darkness, long legs eating up ground and another stone in his fist already. Suddenly afraid, Zeno throws a glance at the wide-eyed stranger.

   Laughter rings out again and the stranger lowers his hands obediently, sitting back on his haunches. Guen’s shoulders lower briefly in confusion. The light emanating from the stranger is pulsing with his mirth, as bright as the fires and getting brighter, until it is blinding even through closed eyelids. Guen and Shuten, standing closer, drop their weapons to cover their eyes with their hands, each stumbling back a couple of steps and falling to their knees.

   There is a startled “Oh!” and the light abruptly dims. Zeno peels open his stinging eyes and peers between his fingers. The stranger has moved, now kneeling next to Shuten with a hand on his shoulder. Shuten starts but does not jump to his feet, probably still reeling from the light.

   “I apologize; I had forgotten how unused you children are to light.” Again, Zeno is struck by the beauty of his voice and by the earnest innocence of the tone. That kind of voice could not be faked, Zeno is sure. He makes a decision and stands, walking over to where Guen is scrubbing at his eyes.

   “Guen, I don’t think he means us any harm…” Zeno whispers, throwing a glance behind him. Shuten is sitting up now, and bristly as he usually is, he has not moved to brush the stranger’s hand off his shoulder. Zeno remembers the calm he felt when he touched the stranger’s hand and understands that. “We should go make sure Abi is alright. With her eyes…”

   In a tribe of sharp-eyed people, Abi is prized for her especially keen vision. In the darkness, she can easily see all the way across the lake to Zeno’s tribe, a fact she has proven by describing in detail the exact steps he took to sneak out of camp. However, she has never entered the Minyarin camp , despite Zeno’s continuous invitations. She says that even from across the lake, the great fires make her eyes ache. Her own camp is shrouded in darkness, the Tatyar preferring heavy, woven shawls to the warmth of fire. They carried torches, but even those were strategically designed to glow as minimally as possible. For people shrouded in shadows, the Tatyar are especially suspicious of the creatures lurking in the dark and refuse to give their position away if they could help it. Yet Shuten does not have the same problem, despite coming from the same people. In fact, he seems to love the flames as much as Abi fears them. It is the cause of much taunting between the two.

   She had been facing away from the stranger, but Zeno was still worried Abi might have been blinded by the reflection of the light. She is curled away from the stranger with her arms locked over her face. Zeno drops to his knees by her side and shakes her shoulder lightly.

   Zeno’s hand is shrugged off almost instantly and Abi sits up, shaking her head and rubbing at her eyes with her fingers. Her features contort into something resembling panic, eyes blinking rapidly.

   “I can’t see… I can’t see!” She whispers the words but they grow in volume quickly, building to hysteria. Zeno can never remember her raising her voice before this. Abi is always calm. He does not know how to deal with this. He cannot help her…!

   Guen pushes past him and picks Abi off of the ground with ease, allowing her to hide her face in his chest. He turns around and carries her to where the stranger is still smiling at Shuten, his pale eyebrows furled in a scowl.

   “Whatever you just did you better be able to undo it. Zeno thinks you are a friend to us and I trust him but if you have doomed her to the darkness forever-“ his words choke off. The stranger is crying.

   He reaches out his hands to rest them on Abi’s cheeks. His fingertips glow lightly and Abi’s eyes fly open again. The tattoos under her eyes are glowing where his fingers hand been. She looks around slowly, focusing on everyone around her. To Zeno, her gaze feels even sharper than before. Calmed, Abi wriggles her way out of Guen’s arms and goes to stand by Shuten, who grabs her hand instinctively. Abi doesn’t shake him off like she usually would, Zeno notes absently before returning to focus on the stranger.

   The tears continue to roll from violet eyes although his smile has returned.

   “I am sorry, children of Eru,” the stranger sighs, “In my excitement to see you, I have hurt you, and for that I apologize. Will you forgive me?” With that voice, Zeno thinks, with those eyes, how could they _not?_

   “My name is Hiryuu. I am a servant of the Valar, the Great Powers That Be that live over the sea. “

   “You glow like the Bright Rider does,” Zeno whispers and the stranger chuckles. There is no flare of light this time, just the impossibly musical sound.

   “Lord Oromë is far greater than I, but he is one of my many masters. I have come here because these lands are dangerous for you children. You are all so marvelous and it would be a terrible loss to have you fall to the darkness of the Great Destroyer.”

   Guen sinks to his knees again, this time in awe.

   Zeno thinks to the songs that he has heard in Guen’s home camp, at the shoreline of the lake. The Nelyar know so many songs that tell many tales, for they are numerous and in numbers there is knowledge. Yet they are cautious. Their songs about the Bright Rider are full of wonder but also of warnings. Sometimes Zeno can hear the chants of the elders echoing across the lake, bidding all to praise the Bright Ones, and to leave them be. But Guen has always been fascinated by the vanquishers of the darkness.

  “Forgive me,” he says, wonder coloring his tone, “I came close to you with a stick when you are one of the Bright Ones. The elders would scold me for that. It was wrong of me.”

   “There is nothing to forgive. You are a good big brother, Child,” Hiryuu responds. Guen ducks his head, glowing but Shuten snorts. It is one of his more good natured snorts, Zeno notes.

   “Well that won Guen over,” Shuten sneers, “But why would you appear to us? What do you want from us?” Abi swats his arm, and he swats her right back. Zeno is amazed. Hiryuu appeared but a short while ago and already Abi and Shuten feel comfortable enough to bicker in his presence. It must be the power of the Bright Ones, to put even prickly Shuten at ease.

   Hiryuu’s already wide smile only grows wider.

   “I want to be your friend! But also, I wish for you to lend me your aid. You are all from different tribes, if I am correct. Already, a member of each tribe has visited our homeland over the sea. They are returning and will be back soon.”

   “Finwë is coming back?” Abi interrupts eagerly.

   “Yes, and the silver and golden ones with him. But before they arrive, I would be honored if you four could introduce me to your tribes and help me learn. I wish to know more about the Children of Eru. Would you do that for me?”

   It is not a difficult choice to make. Zeno meets the gazes of his three friends and sees in them the same instant decision. He nods, and hears the others voicing their agreements.

   Hiryuu laughs brightly once more and wraps his impossibly long arms around all four of them at once, bringing them in with unlikely strength for a messy and tangled group hug. Shuten is complaining into his ear but Zeno notices that he is not trying to pull away either.

   Hiryuu is the strangest person he has ever met. He is also warm and bright and his laughter is like all the music of the tribes combined. He would make a good friend, Zeno thinks, if he didn’t feel like he was barely tied to the ground. But even so, Zeno already loves him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I am sorry if it made little sense. There will likely be a continuation with the current dragons and Yona at some point.


End file.
